ONE HUNDRED THOUSAND FACTS FOR THE PEOPLE. 351 



10. Strong mercurial ointment, one 

 •ounce; soft soap, one ounce; oil of 

 turpentine, a pint. 11. Gasoline and 

 coal oil are both excellent adjuncts, with 

 •cleanliness, in ridding a bed or house of 

 these pests. 



CATERPILLARS, To Destroy.— Boil to- 

 gether a quantity of rue, wormwood, and 

 any cheap tobacco {equal parts), in com- 

 mon water. The liquid should be very 

 strong. Sprinkle it on the leaves and 

 young branches every morning and even- 

 ing during the time the fruit is ripening. 



COCKROACHES AND BEETLES, to 

 Destroy. — 1. Strew the roots of black 

 hellebore, at night, in the places infested 

 by these vermin, and they will be found 

 in the morning dead, or dying. Black 

 hellebore grows in marshy grounds, and 

 may be had at the herb shops. 1. Put 

 about a quart of water sweetened with 

 molasses in a tin wash basin or smooth 

 glazed china bowls. Set it at evening in 

 a place frequented by the bugs. Around 

 the basin put an old piece of carpet that 

 the bugs can have easy access to the top. 

 They will go down in the water, and stay 

 till you come. 3. Take pulverized borax, 

 4 parts, flour 1 part, mix intimately and 

 distribute the mixture in cupboards which 

 are frequented by the roaches, or blow it, 

 by means of a bellows, into the holes or 

 cracks that are infested by them. 4. By 

 scattering a handful of fresh cucumber 

 parings about the house. 5. Take car- 

 bonic acid and powdered camphor in 

 equal parts ; put them in a bottle ; they 

 ■will become fluid. With a painter's brush 

 of the size called a sash-tool, put the 

 mixture on the cracks or places where 

 the roaches hide ; they will come out at 

 once. Then kill. 6. Mix up a quantity 

 of fresh burned plaster of paris (gypsum, 

 such as is used for making molds and 

 ornaments), with wheat flour and a little 

 sugar, and distribute on shallow plates 

 and box boards, and place in the corners 

 of the kitchen and pantry, where they 

 frequent. In the darkness they will 

 feast themselves on it. Whether it inter- 

 feres with their digestion or not, is difficult 

 to ascertain, but after three or four nights 

 renewal of the preparation, no cock- 

 roaches will be found on the premises. 



CRICKETS, To Destroy.— Sprinkle a 

 little quicklime near to the cracks through 

 which they enter the room. The lime 



may be laid down over night, and swept 

 away in the morning. In a few days 

 they will most likely all be destroyed. 

 But care must be taken that the children 

 do not meddle with the lime, as a very 

 small portion ot it, getting into the eye, 

 would prove exceedingly hurtful. In case 

 of such an accident the best thing to do 

 would be to wash the eye with vinegar 

 and water. 



FLEAS, To Get Bid o£ — Much of the 

 largest number of fleas are brought into 

 our family circles by pet dogs and cats. 

 The oil of pennyroyal will drive these 

 insects off; but a cheaper method, where 

 the herb flourishes, is to throw your cats 

 and dogs into a decoction of it once a 

 week. When the herb cannot be got, 

 the oil can be procured. In this case, 

 saturate strings with it and tie them round 

 the necks of dogs and cats. These ap- 

 plications should be repeated every twelve 

 or fifteen days. Mint, freshly cut, and 

 hung round a bedstead, or on the furni- 

 ture, will prevent annoyance from bed 

 insects; a few drops of essential oil of 

 lavender will be more efficacious. 



FLIES, To Destroy. — 1. Take an infu- 

 sion of quassia, one pint; brown sugar, 

 four ounces ; ground pepper, two ounces. 

 To be well mixed together, and put in 

 small shallow dishes where required. 

 2. Black pepper (powdered), one drachm; 

 brown sugar, one drachm; milk or cream, 

 two drachms. Mix, and place it on a 

 plate or saucer where the flies are most 

 troublesome. 3. Pour a little simple 

 oxymel (an article to be obtained at the 

 druggists), into a common tumbler glass, 

 and place in the glass a piece of cap 

 paper, made into the shape of the upper 

 part of a funnel, with a hole at the 

 bottom to admit the flies. Attracted by 

 the smell, they readily enter the trap in 

 swarms, and by the thousands soon col- 

 lected prove that they have not the wit 

 or the disposition to return. 4. Take 

 some jars, mugs, or lumblers, fill them 

 half full with soapy water ; cover them as 

 jam-pots are covered, 'with a piece of 

 paper, either tied down or tucked under 

 the rim. Let this paper be rubbed inside 

 with wet sugar, molasses, honey, or jam, 

 or any thing sweet ; cut a small hole in 

 the centre, large enough for a fly to enter. 

 The flies settle on the top, attracted by 

 the smell of the bait ; they then crawl 



